In March, Tengsheng Fruit was making rapid progress.
Not only did they open a large branch on the 10th, but they also distributed dividends at another branch on the 15th.
Afterward, within just three days, they had negotiated the opening of three more popular stores.
This time, the investment was much smaller, with the transfer fees for all three stores amounting to less than 800,000.
Location-wise, one was on South Street, while the other two were located at the entrance of residential areas.
Chen Pingsheng had the largest share, his total personal investment also just amounted to 800,000.
He still had two million left in his account, with no immediate direction for investment.
He could now suddenly open five fruit supermarkets, which was already the limit.
Any more would be too rapid; without more trustworthy people under him, a collapse was likely.
After roaming around the wholesale fruit market in his small truck, Chen Pingsheng went to find his wife, Song Yanxi.
He had always harbored a small desire to, if ever he had a company,
definitely rent a large office in high-end office buildings.
To also experience what it's like to work as a cultured person.
Song Yanxi was now very respectable, whether it was former colleagues or relatives, all would greet her with a smile.
She often had relatives coming over with gifts, which was something unheard of in the past.
After Chen Pingsheng arrived, she happily took his hand and left.
"Honey, isn't opening so many stores at once too stressful for you?"
"Pressure drives motivation."
Song Yanxi was still five years younger than him, even without the means to take care of herself before, her age was still when a woman is most beautiful.
Chen Pingsheng took her to his Audi, already contemplating buying a new car for himself.
"Wife, that company you used to work for moved to Zhongguancun, so their old location is now vacant."
"Yeah, they moved right after the annual party, only leaving a customer service department here."
"I'm thinking of renting a small office over there, any good suggestions?"
"Rent an office?"
Song Yanxi was puzzled; that area was Beixin'an's fanciest A-grade office building and the rent was not cheap at all.
They were just selling fruits, was there a need for such a location to work?
"Honey, there's no need for that, our first and second shops have perfectly good offices."
"Too small."
Chen Pingsheng said, "We now have five stores, and we'll surely keep expanding. If we don't even have a decent office, how can that work? Mainly, I just want to see you work in an office building."
Holding his hand, Song Yanxi was deeply touched.
When going to the office building, they also encountered Du Juan and Yang Dan.
Neither of them were old employees of the previous company, so they hadn't moved to Zhongguancun with the rest.
Meeting each other this time, Du Juan appeared happy, as she often stayed in touch with Song Yanxi.
And often went to her place to buy fruits.
Yang Dan was different. She only heard the news about Song Yanxi after the new year.
Right after the new year, Song Yanxi quit her job immediately, and at that time Yang Dan had secretly criticized her as foolish.
After all, starting a business was not so easy.
Quitting a stable income to take a risk with her husband.
If it failed, the outcome would be hard to express.
Unexpectedly, in just less than two months, their business took off like a rocket.
Not only did they open a large store near the neighborhood's entrance, but they also opened an even larger second store.
Buying cars and all was done in cash.
They were just short of owning an apartment. If they had one, their family's situation would definitely be considered very good.
Du Juan warmly joked, "It's rare; what brought the two of you to see me during the daytime?"
"Not happy? We want to take you out to dinner tonight," Song Yanxi said, laughing as she held her hand.
"Come on, don't think I don't understand you. Tell me, what's the matter this time?"
"It's just that Pingsheng wants to rent a large office here, to serve as the headquarters for Tengsheng Fruit from now on."
"What?" Du Juan had a big reaction.
How long had it been? Former colleagues who used to work together had not only started their businesses.
They had even moved their companies into their own buildings, a complete turnaround indeed.
"You two are planning to relocate the headquarters here?"
"Yes,"
"How big of a space do you want to rent?"
"Around 500 square meters, preferably with a conference room, finance office, and a reception area."
"Five hundred square meters?"
Du Juan nodded her head; this size was certainly not small and could accommodate hundreds of people working simultaneously.
She knew of quite a few such spaces, which were easy to find, just that the rent wasn't cheap.
Chen Pingsheng had naturally considered this aspect when he arrived.
On the twelfth floor where Du Juan's company was located, there was a ready suite on the fifteenth floor.
The largest office there spanned over forty square meters with a spectacular panoramic floor-to-ceiling window next to it.
The view and visibility were also exceptionally good.
Song Yanxi sat there for a while and felt overjoyed inside.
Chen Pingsheng then immediately took it, paying an annual rent of 280,000—neither too high nor too low.
If there were only five fruit supermarkets, renting such an office would indeed be too wasteful.
He had plans to undoubtedly open many more in the future.
This time, it was really like upgrading from a bird gun to a cannon—completely dignified.
After the headquarters were rented, Tengsheng Fruit Supermarket moved amidst much excitement.
It took several busy days for Song Yanxi to fully calm down her excited feelings.
This time, not only Liu Fen came to celebrate, but her sister Song Wu also came.
Now, her view of Chen Pingsheng had also changed; it was no longer as sharp and proud as before.
It was somewhat unfamiliar all of a sudden.
Chen Pingsheng really wanted to tell her, "Compose yourself."
Then he stood tall and lifted his head proudly.
The reason for renting the headquarters was also Chen Pingsheng's desire to develop Tengsheng Fruit Supermarket in a better direction.
At least to prepare for moving out of Beixin'an.
The goal wasn't huge, but he still had to take practical steps in handling current issues.
For instance, currently, the spoilage rate of the fruits was around 9%, and controlling it to 5% would be the best industry standard.
As for other aspects, cultivating store managers was the most crucial.
As long as he could establish a fast system for training store managers in the future,
He could then rapidly open new stores.
All of this was the significance of renting the headquarters and the basis for future growth and expansion.
By the end of March, the other three stores also opened on the same day.
The interior decoration of the fruit stores was generally simple, half of the personnel were transferred from the other two stores,
And the other half were newly recruited.
The newly hired individuals were mostly familiar people from his hometown.
At this step in the moving process, the six people in the chat group besides Chen Pingsheng each managed one store.
Based on their current shares and income, earning five to six hundred thousand a year was definitely not an issue.
They could walk with their heads held high wherever they went, and finding a match for marriage back home was a breeze.
There would be no need to remain single any longer.
Busy up to this point, Chen Pingsheng, who still had one or two million in his bank account, could only settle down for now.
Only when the second branch organized a major recharge promotion,
Would he be able to make another large sum of money. If he considered the other three stores, by then, he would definitely have enough money to buy a house,
And even more than enough.
By then, he could also bring his parents and his younger and older sisters to live in Capital City.
However, at this moment, Zhao Liying, who had been busy playing minor roles in films, called him.
Capital City, Hengdian.
Zhao Liying had her hair styled in a maid's up-do, moving from an unknown small crew to a large, well-financed production.
Although she was still playing the role of a maid, it was certainly a kind of progress.
She had contacted Chen Pingsheng today mainly because there was a scene that needed his expertise.
Whenever she had free time these past months, she would also go to Tengsheng Fruits to help out.
Chen Pingsheng's rapid progress in just a few months had been a pleasure for her to witness.
But such achievements didn't amount to much in the vast entertainment industry.
Many people are nobodies today and become superstars under the public eye tomorrow.
She didn't envy them, but occasionally she allowed herself to dream a little.
When Chen Pingsheng arrived, Zhao Liying had even prepared a bottle of red tea for him in advance.
This time he was there for a high-difficulty jump from a building scene, directed by the same assistant director who had given him a business card before.
Since the fruit store started making money, Chen Pingsheng no longer took on extra acting work.
This time it was more of a favor.
The fresh-faced male lead didn't even dare to jump from the five-meter-high wall, trembling even just standing on it.
Chen Pingsheng was fearless, after all, everything had been properly padded below.
After makeup, he jumped without hesitation, not stopping even after two or three tries.
He wasn't injured, just a bit tired.
Only after he finished shooting did Zhao Liying come over to wipe off his sweat.
"Chen, thank you."
"Thank me for what? You've been helping me out quite often too."
After pausing, Chen Pingsheng asked her, "Liying, always playing a maid isn't really satisfying, is it? Don't you ever get the chance to play a lead role?"
Zhao Liying's face soured slightly, as she too yearned to be in the lead.
But the investment for a TV drama would be at least tens of millions.
Aside from being suitable for the role itself, the most important thing was to have someone's support.
Without a patron, she had been a background extra for five years.
"Chen, if I can never land a lead role, I might as well join you in selling fruits in the future."
"Don't joke around. You've persisted for so many years. You can't just give up like that."
Thinking it over, Chen Pingsheng curiously asked, "Speaking of which, I don't quite understand the earnings rules in your entertainment world. Is investing in TV dramas really profitable?"
"Of course, it's profitable."
Zhao Liying laughed out, as if thinking of something amusing. She said with self-mockery:
"It's not just profitable, you can also be arm in arm with the director and producer and say, 'Focus on shooting, she's going to be the lead.'"
With money, you're the boss. Her joke about being arm in arm lacked only pointing out exactly who would play the leading ladies.
Chen Pingsheng understood her meaning and then thought of his niece, Song Wu, who was about to graduate.
Would she also try to climb the ladder using such means?
Leaving little cards or room numbers for the director in private.
When such unsavory practices became commonplace, staying clean turned into a joke.
Chen Pingsheng suddenly didn't know how to respond to such a hardworking girl.
Continuing as an extra for more than five years showed her disdain for those dirty tricks.
Yet he considered that if he could produce a superstar in the entertainment industry,
it would greatly benefit his future career.
But would such good fortune ever come his way?
He shook his head, pushing the thought aside until lunchtime.
Zhao Liying specially invited that assistant director to join them for a meal. Like her, he was someone who hadn't found success in the entertainment industry.
Having been an assistant director for ten years, he had never actually become a head director.
This was closely related to the fact that no one invested in him, even though Zhao Liying admired his abilities.
He completed most of the scenes as an assistant director.
But without investors and good opportunities, he had failed to take that critical step forward.
"Little Chen, I hear you're doing well with your fruit shop, that's great."
"Just so-so, barely enough to support the family."
"Being able to support the family is already quite good. To be honest, I recently got a very good script, but I've always lacked the initial funds to get it off the ground."
The assistant director, Yang Jiancheng, was in his forties.
He said this, admittedly, with a bit of hope for raising funds.
"What kind of script is it, Director Yang? Can you tell me a bit about it?"
"A light-hearted ancient romance comedy."
Yang Jiancheng briefly introduced the script, which had quite the pedigree—it wasn't his own original creation.
Instead, it was a wildly popular novel he found on a women's fiction website.
The plot wasn't particularly novel, but it was incredibly entertaining.
It told the story of a bride who mistakenly marries the right man after getting into the wrong wedding palanquin.
"This kind of costume love comedy requires minimal investment, and is perfect for making a big play with little spending. A small investment that makes it to satellite broadcast and catches fire would yield enormous returns," he said.
Chen Pingsheng listened with great interest, but still wanted a few days to think about it.
For one, he didn't know Yang Jiancheng very well yet, and secondly, he wanted to read the novel himself before deciding.
Yang Jiancheng hadn't held much hope for Chen Pingsheng to begin with, so naturally, there was no disappointment to speak of.
Their conversation was purely casual.
Upon returning home, Chen Pingsheng had Song Yanxi take a look at the novel he recommended.
It left her utterly baffled.
What kind of husband doesn't allow his wife to work properly but drags her home to read novels instead?
It was just bizarre.
However, it wasn't long before Song Yanxi was engrossed in the novel, not even needing any prompting to do so.
After recommending it to Du Juan and the others and finding out they all liked it, Chen Pingsheng felt sure this novel was a good fit for a TV adaptation.
In his opinion, the core of a TV drama was still the script.
With a good script and without any outrageous modifications, even without any big stars, the show could achieve a quality of eight or nine out of ten.
On the other hand, even with numerous big stars, a poorly written script would still result in a flop that viewers would criticize.
He felt that the TV drama market had been grotesquely deformed over the years.
The market was flooded with "traffic" stars, and regardless of your personal taste, capital could forcefully feed you crap.
Take for example the current top-tier celebrities, all of whom returned from being trainees abroad.
After entering the drama industry...
Boyish idols play the roles of tough boxers?
All kinds of effeminate CEOs.
As for what the directors were thinking, he had no idea, but he knew he cringed so hard watching them that his toes curled up enough to scrape out a three-room flat.
The kind that dirties your eyes.
And that's not even the full extent of it; there are all sorts of ridiculous cases that treat the audience like idiots.
Only after he was sure it was a good script did he proactively contact Yang Jiancheng to talk about investing.
By his calculations, shooting this drama without any big stars shouldn't cost more than ten million yuan.
Yang Jiancheng was even planning to sell his house to raise money, which was a key reason for Chen Pingsheng's decision to invest.
Think about it—if he himself isn't willing to spend money on a project he wants to film, who would believe in him?
Yang Jiancheng hadn't expected him to really invest; their meeting was quite hasty.
However, he said, "I can gather about five million yuan by myself. If we're looking at the investment for the filming period, it's expected to take three to four months. If all goes well, it could be broadcast on satellite before the end of the year. We're still short about five million yuan for the budget gap."
The timeline was indeed fast. Chen Pingsheng was willing to invest, but he had his own demands.
"I'm willing to invest, but the female lead must be Zhao Liying and only her. That's my sole condition for investing," he said.
Although he knew it was a long shot, Chen Pingsheng still wanted to give it a try.
If he managed to invest in creating a major star, even if she didn't reach A-list status, he would have made a huge profit.
"Deal," Yang Jiancheng agreed without hesitation, mainly because he really thought that Zhao Liying was quite suitable.
And crucially, she wasn't just an average hard worker.
With such a small investment, not even a C-lister would be willing to come, let alone an A-lister.
Zhao Liying, beautiful and hardworking, was an obscure actress who fit perfectly.
Chen Pingsheng put up the money without getting involved in the production. According to industry rules, investing half would only entitle him to a 40% stake.
The other 60% was all Yang Jiancheng's.
Yang couldn't come up with five million yuan all at once and only managed to pay an initial two million.
The remaining three million would be paid when filming was halfway done.
This was more manageable for him.
Regardless,
For a small investment, breaking even was relatively simple, and he approached it with a mindset of giving it a try.
What if it ended up being a success?
Return on investment was one thing but making a big star was another.
When he got home and told his wife, Song Yanxi, about it, she had never imagined that aside from running a fruit store, her husband had also stepped into the entertainment industry.
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